The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-07-13
Early DAYS ON THE PLAINS.
A Wild western Tale, Told in the
smoking Room OF Sleeping Car.
From The Chicago Tribune.

wild western 1dle, 1OlQ IN the
e,,olying- Room OF a Sleeping Car.
r,.o,u The Chscooo Tribune.
f'"," ..o,+ioo of . sIoo,;,.
In the smoking So1'iot VI q Nioepiis car
m the ST Paul ROAD al'er supper tne other
doy the conversation turned on tricks at
no. and one of the party asserted that
caI"' ~ p;un was tbe orioinator of +ho+
'l"F''" ,...+.,, ,or+o,,,. ia,,,,s ~. s..1''
peculiar lh't'ae' 10 49, man
trom wyoming SIi0 n''O "ooi' ''i' aVoehOlVe
listener Iellia' Aee'' ., $4,000,
"Genteincli. ~, $500, h,S}o,.o saw sd" d
Slckci play IL % Iiiy % :, =" oeiofe Nahada
Bill ever tlio'iS VI ~
In response TO urgent requests the resi-
dent OF the sage orllSh als sIlr IN the West
went on WIN MS STORY ne last year OF
The war |, Icing a boy OF 10, cut loose and
drifted toward the 1heh iIe"iy-dlScoVered
gDld mines Oh Mohtdiia' vi TUE way De-
,Nme separated from Ghe ouulit was travel
Ing with and drltted along from one frontier
ranch OF trading statlon 70 another until |
finally made halt at Ihe crossing OF the
Biz Laramie river, on the ola stage road,
at ranch kepS ny Al Smith.
Smiths rancn conSlsoeo OF q Jog building
2Oy40, al! III one room, IN when ne ran
general store anu Sdioou. AS There
was no water lor fifteen nhleS elOher way,
bis ranch was a camping ground Tor all
trains bound eitEer east OF west. The In
dams were bad IN those days and every
ranchnan kept as large a force about him
as possible, ana stragsIeis IKE mysen We're
received with open hospitality ana urged to
proIong their stay. renamed at Smiths
ranch TOR several 1noiltilH Welcome guest
Swapping horses, hunting antelope, drink
ing whisky, playing poker, ana Trading In
government lnilleS---Whlcn III those days was
considered all over the "aSC as legitimate
as selling WHISKY or any other respectable
and honorable industry. mage plenty or
money, ana Hau occtHsIonai lndlan Sklr-
Tisnes, and lotS OF eNClteInehU 1here were
several OF US young Ieiio"s Chere, ana every
evening we woulo ni'tulae III poker by our
selves when we could not get stranger in,
but whom we coalu, WEI ooh MIN III, ana We
gOtthem aimoStev every nlght, ana, as money
was abundant we were all wen liked.
One evening" tale III Ine ian Oh 300,
0cadaVerouS, lahK, nonleiy specimen or hui
manity rode up TO the rancn on a
poor, S3a"iy hiaFe pony, IoIlowed
by q halI-slarFeu colI ne was dressed IN
ragged remnants OF thre9anafe broadcloth
suit, number or rents III ais trousers show
ing tattered PAIR OF gray cIieS underneath.
An "lq par Oh congress stI?'fo adorned MS
extra large Iee'' ana an efItlqliiiUed SUIT nat
scarcely protectcd nm from the sun. His
hair was long, MS lace utSnaVen. from his
shoulder hung oy piece OF rope an old
four-sacE stunned tull Oh old
clothes, Winle uluer ms right
arm he carried bundle wrapped IN an old
striped hickory SHIRT lie awkwardly
cTa"led on ms hoSlnallte' ana IN drawl-
ing, suffering voice inquired II he could
'gt T. stay an nlghtF lie was informed
that he coul9 spread MS blanket on the
tooI anu could eat with US SUCH as we had,
miles down the ROAD. Ills suffering speech
and gawky manner caused us youngsters
unlimited amusement ana we guyed hun
most unmercltully, all OF which he took in
good part.
belore hlght a number OF trains came
along ana went INTO camp, ana by dark the
log caoln was hvely' Frelghters and team
SteS were buying goods and drinking
Walsky, ana playing cards FOR canned fruit
the one great luxury OF the Western pill
gTlllS. Al an early hour, long before any
one else had thought OF sleep, Rusty as
we called nm, spread his blankets on the
moor ana, win ms OLD artillery saddle for
a plnoW, turned IN and tried to sleep.
ana proposed 10 start a poker game If we
could get some one to come in and make it
nve-handed' 'Rusty' Jumped up and said
as III was impossible to sleep he would play
ahtue while Tor fun. We kindly informed
MN That we did not play for fun, but for
quarter ante, Just to make 1T interesting.
ne demurred at first, but finally agreed to
pay % worth, we did not want him to
pay on account OF his poverty, but when he
produced tat leather pocketbook stuffed
WIN greenbacks our scruples diminished and
Tue game began never saw as awkward
a man with cards IN my life, but am free
confess that l never saw man
Gave so much luck as he did. The
aMsheS, threeS, full hands and stra1lghts
%Ss man held were remarkable. By.
Vtock l mad lost $500 and was broke.
@00uC O'CLOCK Frank Jones had lost over
S & ana Ii,I had to quit for lack OF funds.
riIlk "llhams lasted until o'clock, when
Me sot knocked out, and the game progressed
SII.gle,handed between Joe Lowery, super
llV9'ldeht OF the Overland Stage Company,
anu our 6 Simple friend who by this time was
GuV, Out mad about 500 left. old Rusty
A @iV up running fire Of silly remarks, but
W. %G none OF us had any superfiuous